


Exposed

by poetssoul



Category: Les Miserables
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-26 20:16:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetssoul/pseuds/poetssoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that Javert is also a convict on the run, he tries to get used to his new title, and to also get used to being in love with Valjean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exposed

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't mean to make Javert so depressive/wimpy, so bare w/ me. You won't regret it!

Javert felt his heart speed up as the sound of his footsteps reverberated in the curve of his ears as they echoed in the empty corridor. It seemed to him as if he had been here before, an air of deja vu settling, though he couldn't call to mind why it seemed so familiar as he continued to walk, coming to face a door ajar by a few inches. Conflicted at first, the man considered both options before being persuaded further to venture forth, placing a hand on the edge of the barrier, pushing it wide enough to get through.

Once inside, the ex-inspector felt a change around the room as he kept his guard up, an invisible force weighing down. He continued on, not yielding until he was met with the familiar sight of the person who had began his new title, his boss.

"Sir." Javert started off, just as he heard a clicking sound.

"You did this to me. It's only fair I return the cavorted." the other male replied, gun at the ready in his grasp.

"Monsieur, I-I had no other choice."

"Too bad." came the cold statement as there was the pull on the trigger, the blank expression staring as the bullet made its mark on the traitor.

He awoke with a sudden start in frozen beads of perspiration as his chest heaved up and down in a rapid motion until he was able to calm down. The first night Javert had spent with the man he had rebelled for had been met with no sleep to obtain, and now he had been faced with these uncommon nightmares he had never dealt with before consecutively. As the former cop slowed his breathing to normal, he couldn't help but steal a glance beside him who slept soundly, oblivious to what had occurred once more. He reached out, intended to touch the other, but pulled back, being unable to wake Valjean.

As soon as he unwound his body from the cocoon of blanket he had been under, Javert regretted it instantly as he was met with the chill of winter that had managed to enter their temporary refuge. Looking around for a shield against it, a shade of navy caught the new rogue's eye against the cream colored sheets that covered the small mattress in the room, reminded of the fact that the article was lent to the older man out of pity; a small act that never would have been considered before by whom loathed him just a week ago. 

Walking out of the room, the enforcer barely managed to put one foot in front of the other, his vision blurred as he found his way blindly to the sofa that took up most of the space, pressing his body up against the arm, cheek resting on the cloth covering. There he allowed for the first time the disguise worn to be discarded as the burning release kept silent for far too long slid down the fleshy hills of his face, a wet trail left behind. He shuddered, a little at first until he trembled like a brittle leaf about to detach from the limb it held onto. An incisor came down sharply onto the entrance of his mouth, a faint trace of iron taste filled as the weak sound was choked on so as not to disturb either of the other two, staying in the crumpled position until a sudden touch to his shoulder blade was registered. 

"Valjean, go back to bed." he uttered without looking up, attempting to cover up his saddened face. 

"Mr. Javert, what's the matter?" the little girl's voice querried, piercing what veil of protection he had made out of folded limbs, lowering it only to see the child.

"I-It's nothing.." he lied.

"Did Papa do something to you?"

"No, he's too much of a saint.". That was the truth. From the moment he had invited mutiny into his being, the older male had done more for him than he had ever received in his employment.

"Then what is it?" she persisted.

"You don't need to know.". He couldn't bare to infect her innocence with his misdeed.

Silence invaded the area, the head of the ex-inforcer of the law drooped back to being cushioned by the sofa, his gaze lowered into the fuzzy abyss of the carpeted floor, oblivious to the act of compassion done until he shifted his weight, feeling something fall into the curve of his stomach. Looking down at it, he could see the fabric of the doll that her father had given to her. "What's this for?" he questioned.

"You're upset." she stated the obvious. "And she helps get rid of sadness."

"But she's yours."

"I'm letting you borrow her."

"Thank you." he spoke after a moment of pause, unsure of how to feel. Javert had only been around a few children in his lifetime, and he made a point to stay away from them, as most were miniature devils ready to become full-fledged professionals at the craft. He had never entertained the idea of becoming a parent either, until now of course, still unsure of how to interact with the girl, though he planned to be taught. Hesitating, one of the appendages he had his cheek perched on eventually slipped out from under it and found its way to snake around the toy. It helped the male to be comforted into another attempt at resting, his eyelids tired of fighting the inevitable temporary trip to the land of dreams, convinced to submit defeat. As he slipped out of consciousness, he felt weight added to the worn cushions, not bothered at all by the company as he had led on to be, anchored by another foreign addition upon his collecting soul. 

* * *

The empty space fragmented Valjean's usually sturdy sleep patterns. Had love of such a short time span really affected him to such a degree already that he knew when he was accompanied by the contorted shape of the addition to his previously two-membered family? Wincing at the springs moaning in protest, he climbed out of the enclosure, needing to search for whom his heart had paired off with, in dread that he had decided on running away. A part of him couldn't blame the once reputable policeman if he had chosen to do so, for his wrongdoing had cursed, no matter how desperate he had been to keep Cosette alive during the presence of frost.

Down the stairs he went, ignoring that his footsteps slapped harder than necessary with anticipation. As soon as he met the floor of the room below, the search began, panic building as he started with the kitchen; frantic for nearly an hour until the curve of a shoulder caught his eye, racing over to come in front of the item, collapsing onto his knees in relief at both the reassurance of the opposites decision to remain here and at the sight of his daughter laying beside Javert, his arm slung protectively over her with the gift the other had bestowed her when he had taken the role of being a dad tucked between.

Eased, the man leaned forth and gave a gentle kiss to each brow, settling upon his folded legs as he watched over them, a new worry entering into his vulnerable heart as he noticed the sorrow still sunken into the slightly wrinkled face, knowing all too well that the semi-permanent pain would remain until it could be left as a memory, aware that transparent tracks decorated once more as a result, being earned a sharp whimper as he placed his palm lightly on the other's clamped jaw. Jumping slightly at the unexpected noise uttered, the fugitive lifted his hand from where it was, surrounding the edge of bone that prominently stuck out under the sleeve of the shirt he had lent, shaking it with the firm grip held.

Valjean's heart skipped a beat as soon as Javert's eyelashes fluttered, studying the movements made as he was joined. Once the younger man sat adjacent to his lover with an arm draped around his shoulders, the bank robber knew just how deeply this had sank, an anchor weighing down the boat that trudged the surface in an attempt to keep buoyant.

"You noticed." Javert said, not meeting the other face to face.

"Of course I did. This whole time you haven't left the confines of sleeping next to me."

"True. Although that's not what I mean." 

"Yes, I saw.. " the opposite confessed, met with an irritated sigh. "It doesn't make you any less of a man." he added in reassurance.

"It makes me vulerable."

Wanting to avoid an argument, the convict held his tongue and pulled the newly turned criminal into his lap, his arms tightly wound around the male's hips as he stared into the coal-colored eyes. His heart beat rapidly, not wanting to mess up this action he was still getting used to, as he planted his lips firmly against whom love had been developed especially for. "It reveals a part of you I've wanted to get to know. I understand you are uncomfortable with letting it be exposed, but it's vital."

"How can it be? It isn't in my nature to let all held under come spilling out." 

"It shows that you're human."

"What kind of human kills in cold blood?!" the once honorable policeman questioned, an inferno swirling in the air as the string of words connected.

"You know as well as I do." the older human retorted. He had said it over and over again how they both were greatful that the officer had committed such a risk, had even dared to act on a behavior so foreign. Feeling guilty for the sudden outburst, a hand of his slipped from the lock in position on the other's sturdy bone structure, forming around the base of his cheek. "If it hadn't been for you abandoning what you had, Cosette and I wouldn't be here anymore. I'm in your debt in more ways than one, and all I want in exchange is to gain your affection and trust, no matter how long I have to wait around for that." he explained, met with a bowed chin, the robber let the conversation yield as he heard the child stirring from her slumber, leaving the other to brood over what had been brought to his attention as he tended to welcoming his daughter back into the world of reality

* * *

The snow no longer continued to come down as often as it had the previous week when the events transpired, Javert noticed as his grasp encircled the smaller hand within it as he went to accomplish the assignment of going to get the provisions they were low on, and as requested bonding time. Trudging onward, the cop remained in his silence, trying to remind himself of what had been gently scolded of from his mate to open up, knowing it was meant with the best intentions possible to come from another who had the right to be the antonym of present personality due to the strifes he tolerate, unable to be blamed.

Struggling with the battle going on inside his ivory skull, the ex-inspector was kept sane by the faint sound of the female humming notes improvised that nearly banished the dread filled in his being at somehow being recognized by some person who chanced going to this quaint service building that Valjean had mentioned; the paranoia worsened to such an extent that he who once been afraid of nothing jumped at the meekest of sounds.

"Mr. Javert, you're hurting my hand." Cosette spoke up.

"Sorry." he stated, loosening the tightened hold he made. "If it's not too much to ask, while we're in here, I'd rather you call me dad."

With a nod in return, the adult hoisted the child up into his arms as he shrugged the door open with his shoulder and went inside to make the purchases that were absolutely needed. Most of it were easy necessities that were needed daily such as bread, cheese, milk and apples, though the rest were some luxuries they had chose to go without while they let everything s_ettle into place. One of the most prominent items required were a few lean cuts of meat. Another was extra wax for the candles they used, matches going with them. As he gathered the small pile and handed what amount of payment necessary to buy it all, the ex-enforcer trembled a little, felt his stomach clenched into a tight knot as the side of his enclosed palm brushed against the cashier's, nervous that this particular person was someone he once knew regardless of the fact that this was a more reclusive part of the town. He sighed in relief that the attendant wasn't paying attention as he was given the  
handful of change back, pocketing it and leaving just the way as they came, still in a rush to get back to the security of a roof over his head. 

Javert sensed it as soon as he entered the structure just as a wolf does when the hunted prey is down for the count. All that he wondered was how this scenario would warm him up to the realm of love as he set the girl onto the floor gently and proceeded to place the bundle inside the parchment onto the table.

"Thank you, Dad." she piped up, remembering what title she was instructed to say.

"For what?" the inspector queried, heart lurching slightly at the strange word spoken into the sentence.

"Letting me go with only you for a change."

"Don't mention it." he replied awkwardly, startled as her thin arms wrapped around one of his legs. Bending down slightly, he allowed himself to give a pat to the girl's back before she unlatched and ran upstairs. About to go after her out of curiosity, he was prevented from doing as such as he was chained in the iron link cuffs of Valjean's arms; one of the very few things that he'd dare submit under. 

"It's good to see you both getting along so well." the fugitive mused, moving in closer to the male, his fingers combing back the ebony hair he had grown to love. 

He gave a noiseless response, calmed into the state by the repetitive movement of the palm, the thin curtains of skin lowered down fully as he sighed contently. Whether it coincided with the reconditioning process, he didn't care, unable to resist leaning into the way he was touched, feeling as the opposite leaned forth to touch his lips against the skin exposed just above the scarf's edge. That simple piece of apparel that caused this whole chain of events to be set off into motion, and he couldn't express the magnitude of gratitude captured within his being. 

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Javert was finally led back into the dining room, more allured by what the other had up his sleeve as he took the seat opposite the man who had given him refuge during such a hardship, already told that the evening would remain to them without the girl accompanying. Nerves knotted his stomach as he cut off a piece of the steak, both hands trembling slightly as he ate, keeping his gaze averted from his love interest out of embarrassment for how he was performing at the moment, anxiously awaiting the topic needing to be breeched.

"I appreciate you taking Cosette along with you on your errand. She seemed to have a good time." Valjean mentioned.

"It was no problem, as she wanted to go and I had no objection to it."

"She seems to have grown quite a fondness of you." 

Javert nodded, as it had seemed apparent to him, beginning with the night before when she had stayed at his side and tried her best to alleviate the pain that nearly eroded his soul. "I suppose I've started to develop something similar with her." he gave in return after a sip from the glass of wine, noting how a gleam of pride awoke in the fugitive's eye at the confession.

"You're coming a long way." 

He hesitated to answer, knowing it wasn't completely true or false. Yes, he was accepting the child into his life as he had been asked, yet he was still silently haunted by his descision, unable to keep it together at times. Staring at the tablecloth, a single silver sliver of a water droplet etched itself into the fibers beneath it, not hearing as the second person in the room abandoned the chair to kneal beside him, and lift his chin up with the tips of his fingers. 

"Listen, Javert, we both enjoy your company here." the older one stated, wiping away the essence of sorrow, his other hand moving into the sown in pouch of the garment. "You still have a long way to go on your recovery, but we are here to help. And we hope that you will do the same for us by being a permanent member." he added, making the object visible. "Will you marry me?"

Taken by surprise, he now cried for a different reason, lunging gently into the open arms that awaited him. "Yes." he breathed out, chuckling slightly as the piece of jewelry slid into place on his finger. "How will we find anyone who will marry two outlaws like us?"

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Our first priority is announcing to Cosette that you really are her dad now." Valjean said, kissing the man's stubble's jawline.

A swell of pride burst open at what he initially considered a deadened world he could no longer fully live in. It brought a whole new meaning to it all, and just as there had been no turning back from the deed of killing a fellow human, this too was a significant indicator to how he final had grabbed hold of the reigns and rode In the directions he chose. Only this time, unlike the last, he was content with the consequence that would renew him in feelings previously left deadened.


End file.
